Why are we so worried about Satan?

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.5 • 11.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2021

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Vox's Sean Illing talks with Sarah Marshall, co-host of the You're Wrong About podcast, about the Satanic Panic of the early 1980s. They discuss America's penchant for moral panics, why the country latches onto outlandish stories, and what the Satanic panic and its echoes today say about America's collective psyche. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Interviews Writer, Vox Guest: Sarah Marshall (@Remember_Sarah) Author; host of the You're Wrong About podcast References: You’re Wrong About, “The Satanic Panic” (May 2018) “Why Satanic Panic never really ended” by Aja Romano (Vox, March 31) “Michelle Remembers and the Satanic Panic” by Megan Goodwin (The Revealer, Feb. 4) “There’s a bear in the woods” (Ronald Reagan campaign ad, 1984) The McMartin preschool trial “Baseless Wayfair child-trafficking theory spreads online” by Amanda Seitz and Ali Swenson (AP, July 2020) The Mann Act (a.k.a. “White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910”) Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Paul Mounsey VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, this is Sean Elling and I write for Vox about politics, ethics and philosophy.
0:06.2	And this week, I'm your host for Vox Conversations.
0:16.0	Americans love a good moral panic, especially if it involves Satan and pedophiles.
0:22.2	Probably the most famous example of this occurred in the 80s and early 90s.
0:26.3	There was a wave of outlandish allegations made against daycare centers.
0:30.8	It was widely believed, and I swear I'm not making this up, that we had a string of clandestine,
0:36.6	occult sex rings at daycares where children were being slatomized and forced to drink blood
0:40.8	as part of a secret satanic ritual.
0:43.4	I know that's a lot.
0:46.5	But the hysteria around this was real and pervasive, and it eventually produced what remains
0:51.0	the longest and most expensive trial in the history of California, known as a big Martin
0:55.3	trial of 1983.
0:57.6	In today's episode, I talked to Sarah Marshall, co-host of the Terrific Podcast you're
1:01.7	wrong about.
1:02.7	Marshall is what you might call a professional debunker, but she's much more than that.
1:07.0	Her show is all about understanding why we latch on to the stories we latch on to, and
1:11.6	what that says about us and our culture.
1:14.4	Marshall and her co-host Michael Hobbs did an entire episode on the Satanic Panic, and
1:18.8	Marshall is currently writing a book about it.
1:20.7	So we discuss what the hell happened in the 80s and 90s, how the echoes of that can be
1:25.2	seen today in QAnon conspiracies, and what America's penchant for panics reveals about our
1:31.0	collective psyche.
	...

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